Photo: The Star

Ban of Khat is the UK not targeting Kenyan government - Envoy.

Nairobi — A diplomatic row is brewing between Kenya and the United Kingdom following plans by the latter to ban miraa sales on British soil.

The green plant is also known as Khat and widely munched by millions of people in the Horn of Africa and parts of east and central Africa. However last week the British government reclassified the popular herbal stimulant as dangerous and therefore a banned substance.

Kenya currently exports 60 tonnes of Miraa per week to the UK. The product retails at $9 dollars a kilo earning the country over $500,000 in foreign exchange per week. There are an estimated 100,000 users in the UK.

Miraa or Khat is a leafy stimulant that is largely grown in Kenya's Central and Eastern provinces and a major source of income both to the locals and the Kenyan government in foreign exchange.

Trouble started last Wednesday when the UK government announced plans to classify the stimulant as a prohibited drug citing Class C of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 in the UK constitution.

According to UK Secretary of State for the Home Department Ms Theresa May, the classification will effectively make the sale of miraa in that country illegal therefore denying many Kenyan farmers a major source of revenue.

Leaders from Kenya's main growing region which is also the bedrock of the President's support called on Uhuru and Ruto to start talking with the UK government on the possibility of reversing the decision.

Meru Senator Kiraitu Murungi is quoted as having termed the UK action against Kenya as "political and discriminatory." He called on President Kenyatta to react with an equally political sanction against the UK.

Kenya has been exporting miraa to the UK throughout the years and the two countries have enjoyed a buoyant economic and political relationship.

Most other countries in Europe have already banned the product putting the economic livelihood of over eight million farmers in Kenya at risk. The most recent was Netherlands which banned the product in early January.

The Dutch market alone used to earn Kenya an estimated $19 million annually from the sale of the crop.